Tag: Elizabeth Bart

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Mira’s Awakening: Book One of the “Never Alone” Series Now Available for Purchase!

I am pleased to announce that my debut novel, Mira’s Awakening, is now available for purchase at Amazon! The novel can be purchased as a paperback or as an ebook. Like, share, tell your friends!

What do you get when you drop a withdrawn widow into a small community with quirky college professors, gregarious actors, brilliant electrical engineers, a sassy book editor, and a hyperactive superhero-obsessed six-year-old? 

Community. 

Love.

Laughter.

Family. 

Fun-loving yet introverted to a fault, Mira is a college professor and widowed single mother in a constant battle with debilitating grief and depression. To make matters worse, she has been the recipient of mysterious, threatening messages since her husband’s death. 

Every day is a challenge for Mira as she struggles to find the energy to teach her students and to parent her hyperactive son who is as likely to have a “World War III-worthy tantrum” as he is to charm you with his social commentary about, for example, the grossness of picking ones’ boogers.

Naturally intelligent, handsome, and confident, Devan hadn’t a care in the world until he was faced with a devastating trauma last year. After spending nine months wandering through Europe in an unsuccessful attempt to escape his nightmares, Devan returns home to face his past and the brother (Nicolas) he abandoned.

Nicolas, a colleague and long-time admirer of Mira’s, reluctantly introduces her to Devan. An awkward lunch in a stuffy college office ensues. Mira’s quirky colors (and Devan’s “Thor-like” biceps) are put on display, and that’s all it takes to ensure none of their lives will ever be the same again. Much to the dismay of Nicolas, Devan and Mira find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other.

Just as Mira begins emerging from her shell, she receives a terrifying new message from her stalker. Now that her son’s life has been threatened, Mira runs the risk of withdrawing into her head once more unless she develops the strength to rely on her friends to help her through this crisis.

From the Author: 

Dear Reader,

This isn’t a flowery story about “overcoming grief.” That’s not a thing, in my experience.

It’s a story about real people emerging from a raw state of utter despair and somehow finding ways to live with grief and (most importantly) love through it. It’s about finding reasons to get out of bed, finding reasons to smile, finding the right people to love on, and rediscovering joy.

The best part? This novel is just the beginning of the story. Just you wait…

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Who is Liz and Why Should I Care?

Great question! To avoid the highly existential nature of this question, I’ll stick to the facts and just the facts.

Let’s start at the present, as that is the most relevant information for my purposes here. I’m a writer! I know what you’re thinking: “Well, duh, you have a blog so yeah, you’re a writer…and aren’t we all writers, really?”

To that, I say, “Yes. Yes we are.” So let me be more specific. I have written my first novel! This has been an exciting time for me, and I am thoroughly enjoying the creative process. As I prepare my first novel for publishing (not there yet!), I started this blog to get the ball rolling, so to speak.

Turning back the wheels of time, I will also inform you that I have had a career working in the field of applied behavior analysis with children on the autism spectrum for the past twenty-five years. (Long time. I’m old.) Keep in mind, for those of you that might be wondering, my novel is simply a novel. It isn’t a parenting book, a how-to book, or a collection of research articles placed in a friendly, easy-to-read format. (Though that last one would be really cool if someone wants to give that a shot! I’d read it!) It has nothing to do with my field, other than that the heroin of my novel has a similar occupation (write what you know, people).

I have two amazing kids, one of whom will no longer be technically called a kid in a few weeks (though I probably always will). Full disclosure: My kids both think it’s weird that I wrote a novel. My youngest has come around, though, and is now attempting a novel of his own! He loves to read and is thoroughly annoyed that I won’t let him read my book (it does have a few naughty romance sequences and some characters with serious potty-mouths), and insists that I write a new series just for him so he can read it all the way through. I might just do that. First things first, though.

Another thing you might want to know is that I am a widow, and have been for eleven years. And to bring things full circle, I will explain that I started this project as a way to work through my grief. You see, my heroine, Mira, is also a widowed mother too, and pouring my thoughts and experiences into her and this fictional story has been an incredibly therapeutic experience, if I’m being honest.

It might sound odd to some people, especially if you have never lost anyone, that I still need to process grief eleven years later. Mira puts it best when she says, “The pain has changed over time. It’s like the difference between standing under and standing next to Niagara Falls: It’s far less painful to stand next to it, but still, you can’t ignore Niagara Falls.” So, yeah. It’s like that. Maybe you know what this feels like, too? Well, anyway, if you read the book, I promise you will. But don’t panic because if Mira inadvertently breaks your heart (spoiler alert), she promises to put it back together again.

Lastly, I will hint to you that I am just getting started! As I said, I am preparing book one (Coming Alive) for publishing as we speak…write…read? Whatever. You get what I’m saying. But guess what? I have also written books two and three, and most of book four! Sadly, these are not ready to prep for publishing yet, but that is coming down the pipeline, too.

So, that’s me in a nutshell! Questions? Comments? Oh, and before you ask me, I will preempt you and answer the age-old question. My favorite color is green. And usually pink.

Love, Liz